Furnace



May 10; 1932.

E. F. SCHONBERGER FURNACE Filed Oct. 7, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet l gwoemtoz May 10, 1932. E. F. SCHNB RGE 1 857,480

- FURNACE F i-led ocr. 7, 1929 4 SheetTs-Sheet 2 y E. F. SCHONBERGER 1,857,480

FURNACE Filed Oct. 7, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 E/V/L E sff/ONBEEGEP E. F. SCHONBERGER I 1,857,480

FURNACE Filed Oct.- 7, 1929 May 10, 1932.

' 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 10, 1932 omen STATES omen,

EMIL F. SCHONIBERGER, or CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE SMOKELESS rUEnAoE &,BILER (:0. mo, A CORPORATION OF OHIO FURNACE Application liledjdctober 7, 1929. Serial K0. 397,853.

This invention relates to improvements in furnaces, and relates more particularly to furnaces of the so-called smokeconsuming type. v

One very difiicult problem presented in the operation of furnaces using carbonaceous fuel is the elimination of the smoke and noxious gases. Furnaces incorporating principles that sought to eliminate smoke: and the like,

have been constructed prior to my invention, but many of such furnaces have involved a complicated structure and still more complicated method of operation and consequently were not of practical utility for the smaller installations. v a I 7 It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a furnace in which theby-products therefrom are reduced to a minimum. I

Another object of this invention isto pro- '20 vide a furnace of the class described which is simple to operate. v

Another object of this invention"to.;provide a furnace in which the variousparts most subject to wear may bereadilyreplaced Without disassembling the entire furnace.

till another object is to provide for'an improved fire box in which the difierential expansions of various parts is not as liable to cause breakage thereof. f Still other objects of the invention and the invention itself will become more apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof, and in which description, reference may be had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings: i j e I 1 represents a front elevational- View ofa furnace embodying the features of invention; the hot air jacket therefor not being shown i a Fig. 2 is a: sectional view'takenoii the 'line 22 of'Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows; o; g o l Fig. 3 is' a side elevational view of the furnace of Fig. 1;

Fig. l'is a plan view of the furnace "with the hot air acket therefor showninjsection;

Fig. 5is a rear elevational viewof the furnace of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional View, with certain parts being shown in elevation and others illustrated by dotted lines, of a valvular mechanism used to control the op eration of the furnace; I, j

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line7'7 of Fig. 2, the grate bar therefor being shown in elevation; N

Fig. 8 is a. sectional view taken on line 88ofFig.2;

Figs. 9 and 10 are enlarged fragmentary sectional views of fragments of the fire box showing details of construction. Y

Referring now to the figures of the' drawings throughout which like parts are designated by like reference characters, the furnace structure comprises generally, apair of individual fire boxes and combustion chambers interconnected by conduits'insuch. a manner that the products of combustion is from one fire may be conducted underneath the adjacent fire and directed upward there- More specifically the structure includes a. substantially cylindrical body 2. A pair of r spaced parallel walls 3 divide the cylinder, extending .from thebottom of the cylinder to the top thereof, providing an" air space through the central portion of the structure,

and a pair of semi-cylindrical chambers 4 and 5 on either side thereof. The cylindrical body of the furnace and the d'ividing ,walhmay be constructed of boiler plate with the edges butt or lap welded. The parallel walls may be braced b'yaj n1e1nber9l which bridges the space between the walls, The top and hottom end walls of each of the semicylin drical chambers are sealed with semi-circularfplates. The space 6 intermediatethe two chambers is open at the top and'is bridgedat '7' spaced from the bottom by a piece ofisheet metal. .A pair of oppositely disposed rectangular' open; ings, of which'one is shown at 8", are provided through the outer wailladj acent to the bridging member7, opening into the space' 6 to provide an air inlet to allow the air currents to circulate through the passage. a I Y The ash pitsiare disposed inthe lowermost portion of each chamber 4 and 5 and are eachprovidedwith an ash door framel0 'and fl, 1G9

I Hz which may be of cast ironconstruction, and

j are secured to the furnace structure by bolts,

rivets or the like 9, about apertures in the sheet metal structure. A suitable iron-cement may be used to seal the joints. Each frame is provided with an outwardly extending flange 12, to which a hot air jacket may besecured by bolts, or the like. Each ash door frame hingedly supports ash doors 14 through which access may behad to the interior bottom portions of the chambers. 1 v

A pair of recesses 15 and 16 are provided in the upper walls of the frames lO and 11 adj a cent to the cylindrical body to provide suitable housings for the grate'bargears 1'7 and 18. V I

Eachfurnace section is provided with a fire box that is spaced from the surrounding walls and which comprises an upper fire pct 20 of semi-cylindrical form, and a lower fire pot 21 upon which the upperportion is adapted to 31. Both theseparator and the'bearmgs are provided with'squared lugs 32 and 33 which extend through apertures in the door frame casing, the bearings and separator being secured, to the casing bybolts 34. w 7 V Each fire box 21' is supported within the chamber by retainer cleats 3,6, which are secured to the furnace wall 2 by boltsor rivets 37. As previously described the walls-of the lower pot, extend inwardly toward the bottom and the lowermost portion is provided with an outwardly extending flange 35whicl1 is adapt- 'ed to rest upon the cleat's 36 disposed at in tervals about the periphery of the furnace draftdoors 41 the purpose of which is eomstructure. The: grates, which are supported by the fire pot and by the door frame, are provided with meshed gears 17 and 18 which we tend upward into therecesses 15 and 16. The innermost grate or'the one next to the wall 3,' is relatively long, andthe outer grate is relatively short. The 'bearin'g bosses sup porting the rear ends thereof are placed in stepped relation to each other about the fire pot. The longer grate bar is provided with a forwardly extending portion which has ,a squared end to receive a'shaker handle by 'which the grate bars may be rotated, The

ash door has smallfapertures which are covered by wickets'such as 40 through which the shaker handle may be inserted. J g j The ash doors are alsoprovided with large .Each chamber is provided with an inward- I .mantlingthe furnace, as the ash pit door is sufficiently large to allow the fire pot sections to be removed or inserted there-through.

In removing the old fire pots the grate bars are first removed and then the bolts are removed from the lugs 36and the old fire pots.

dropped and removed through the ash pit doors- In replacing the new fire pots the operation is reversed, thenew fire pots, being raised into position and the cleats bolted in' place. i This construction allows the fire pots to expand and contract'freely and prevents the same from coming into direct contact with the furnace wall and closes the space between the fire pots and the furnace wall at r the upper edge of the fire pot preventing escape ,of gases from below the fire pot around the periphery thereof.

A pair of inlet flues 43 and 44 are provided including apertures opening into the rear of the ash pit at the lowermost portion. of each sideof the cylindrical structure and a pair of flues45 and 46 are provided at theuppermost side of the structure. Flue casings. are secured to the furnace structure; circuma ambient-the flue ap ertures.-. They may be constructed of cast iron and are best shown in Fig fi. I v

I A pair. of fire door casings 47 and 48 are secured to theforward'side of the furnace structure spaced from thetop slightly above the fire pot 20. The casings may be constructedof cast iron or the like and are se cured to the furnace structure in a manner such as has been described for the ash door casing, each casing supporting a fire door 49 which may be provided With a draft inlet 50.

The upper flues 45 and 46 are exhaust fluesand are each connected to cast iron conduits .51 and 52- which are of substantially square cross-section. The conduits connect with a stack casing 53 as better illustrated in Figure 4, the stack casing having branched openings to furnish connection to the stack foreach of the conduits 51 and 52.

A pair of tortuous conduits 54 and 55. also of rectangular cross-section are provided, and are adapted to connect at their'upper ends to the conduits 51 and 52 and at their lower ends to the lines leading into the opposite ash pits, in such a manner that each furnace section-has its upper-end incommunicationgwith-the lower-end oftheadjacent sec-- 'tion. .This is laccomplished by placing the openingsin the conduit 51 and 52 finsucha manner'that one of them is adjacent'to the flue casing and the other is adjacent to the stack casing. I

Dampers or valves and 61 are provided in the conduits 51 and 52 in such a manner that one conduit'may be closed :tothe stack casing and open to the fire box of the adjacent section while the other conduit is closed to the fire box of the adjacent section andopen to the stack'casing or vice versa. As best showniin Fig. 6, the dampers are adapted'to seat against annular flange 62 in the casing. Each damper is secured to a rod '63journaled in bearings 64, formed in bosses upon the conduits. The ends of the rod adjacent to the adjoining conduit project beyond the bosses and a pair of segmental gears66 and 67 are secured thereon. The gears mesh with, each other in such a manner that when one damper is rotated by its shaft in a clock-wise direction, the adjacent damper is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction. The rod upon which the damper 61 is secured projects -beyond the side of the pipe through the casing P 70 and has an operating lever 71 on its end,

A flue hole may be provided in'the stack conduit closed by a damper 68. g V

When the furnace is started in operation, a fire is built in either one ofthe fire boxes. The

first fire will cause a certain amount of smoke, If we consider that the fire is being built in the section 5, to the left as viewed in Fig. 1,

the valves or dampers will be so positioned that the conduit leading from the upper part of the chamber 5 through the conduit 51 is open to the stack conduit 53. In this position the tortuous conduit 54 which leads tot-he lower portion of the fire box of the chamber 4 on the right is closed.

When the fire has become sufliciently incandescent and is burning at that state of combustion wherein little or no smoke is given off, another fire is built in the chamber 4 to the right. The products of imperfect combustion from the green fire are conducted from the upper flue 52 which is closed to the stack flue but opened to the tortuous conduit 55, downwardly through the tortuous passage 55 into the ash pit below the incandescent fire in the chamber 5. The partially burned products of combustion of the second fire caused by the coking of the second fire then ascend through the fullycoked fire, through the incandescent coals therein, and are consumed in such a manner that. products are burned and when passed through to the stack have now removed therefrom, the majority of combustible products, the gases which ercape to the air through thestack, being substantially free from the heavy smudge common to coal fires.

revolved in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 4 and 6 which closes the direct communication with the left hand fire to the stack and causes the products therefrom to'be sent through the tortuous channel-to the ash pit underneath the fire at the right.- Simul taneously, theright hand fire has been'put into direct communication with the stack with its upper flue The left hand fire is now coaled andthe operation continued in a man ner to that previously described;

I find that with this system of alternately fired sections of the furnace, or what is substantially two separate furnaces, that the products ofrimperfect combustion from the green fire are all substantially consumed in the fire that is in a h ghly incandescent state.

The construction of the fire 'boxfwhich allows an air space between the firebox proper and the steel structure forming the wallsis suchthat there isvery little tendency for the walls of the furnace to warp out of shape,

and the angular member 42 prevents the unburned gases from escaping to the stack without passing through the incandescent fire. The grates and fire boxes may be read ily replaced if they should burn out, without I dismantling the entire furnace structure as is now the general practice i The drawings illustrate more particularly a furnace structure adapted for hot air heating systems wherein the air circulates through an intake not shown, in' the bottom of the housing 7 0,as is common with hot air furnaces the air -is-further assisted in its circula tion by entering the inlet aperture 8 at the front and rear, and passing upwardly through the passage 6 out the top of thestructure. This same structure may be used'for hot water or steam systems, the only material changes necessary being those to the water jacket. H

Having thus describedvmy invention in an embodiment thereof and the method of op eration therefor, I am aware that'numerousi below, a. flue opening disposed'in the rear at a the upper end of each chamber andash pit, a stack conduit connecting the upper openings to said stack, downwardly extending tortuous conduits :connecting each of thefirst mentioned conduits to theash pit opening of the adjacent chamber, anddampers; 111' each of said first mentionedconduits adapted to 7 5. 'A' furnace including a casing, a pairof maintain vthe passage to the stack closed and the passageto the ash pit of the opposite chamberopen or vice versa. 1 1;

2. A-furnace, includinga cylindrical casing, a pair of spaced parallel walls separating said casing to provide opposite chambers and havingan air space therebetween, a

fire box :disposed in each chamber including 4 superposed portions supported thereby in spaced relation to said casing, grates disposed in the bottom of the firebox and an ash pittherebelow, a flue opening disposed in the rear at the upper end of each chamber and ash pit, a stack, conduits connecting the upper openings to said'stack downwardly extending conduitsconnectingeach of the first mentioned conduits to the ash pit opening of the adjacent chamber, and dampers in each of said first mentioned conduits, separate rotatablezshafts supporting said dampers and gear'segments keyed to each shaft and in mesh with eaclr other, saiddampers and gear segments co-operating to" maintain one, of saidchambers open directly to the stack and the other open to the ash' pit of the opposite chamber and a handlever for operating the same. I a

i 3.- A furnace, including a cylindrical casing, a pair of spaced parallel'walls separating said casing toprovide opposite chambers and an air space therebetween, a fire box disposed in each chamber including superposed portions-supported thereby inspaced relation to said casing, grates disposedin the bottom of the-firebox and an ash pit therebelow, means. whereby'said fire box portions may be re moved and replaced throughthe ash pit, flue openings disposed in the rear at the upper end of each chamber and pit, conduits connecting the upper opemngs to a common stack, downwardly extendingconduits con- 7 necting each of the first mentioned conduits to tlie'ash pit opening of the adjacent chamber, co-operating valvesin each of said first mentioned conduits adapted to maintain the passage to the stack-closed and the passage tothe ash pit'of the opposite chamber open or vice versa, and to maintain one of said chambers open directly to the stack and the otherclosed to the ash pit of the opposite chamber, and anon-rigid expanding sealbel tween the fire ot and the casing constraining the gases to go through the fire pot.

:4. A furnace, including 'a casing, a pair of spaced parallel walls dividingsaid casing into separate chambers having a'space therebetween, a fire box in each chamber compris-,

ing a pair of superposed fire pot portions, means to remov'ably support saidfire pot comprising cleats upon which the lower fire -pot portionmay rest, and anon-rigid expand-ing seal between thefirepot and the casing constraining thegases to go through the-fire pot. .7

spaced parallel walls dividing said casing into separate chambers having aispace therebetween, a fire box in each chamber comprising a pair of superposed fire'pot. portions,

means to removably support 'said vfire pot comprising'cleats upon which the lower fire pot portion may rest, and anon-rigid expanding seal between the fire p'otand the casing, constraining the gases to go through .the fire pot and maintaining the upper fire pot in'sp'aced relation from the casing wall.

6; A furnace, including a cylindrical casing, a pair of spaced'parallel walls separating said casing to provideopposite chambers and an air space therebetween, said air space ing the upper openings tosaid stack, downwardly extending tortuous conduits connecting each of the first mentioned conduits to the ash pit opening of the adjacent chamber, and dampers in'ach of said first mentioned conduits adapted to maintain the passage to "the staclrclosed and the passage to the ash pit ofthe opposite chamber open or vice versa.

a In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature this 25th day of September, 1929.

'LEMIL F. SCHONBERGER. 

